Research Project: Fashion in India (posted by Annie)

 Introduction

For my Indian project, I decided to learn more about how Indian clothing changed over time. The main types of traditional Indian clothing are:

• the saree, a five meter cloth wrapped around the body, worn with a blouse. 

• the salwar kameez, a commonly worn long tunic with pants and a scarf. 

• the poshak, basically a salwar khameez with a skirt.

• lehenga, a short blouse worn with a big, poofy skirt, with a seethrough scarf.

My question for my Indian project is, “How did Indian clothing change over time?” I learnt that the key changes in Indian clothing were the Mughal period, the British era, and now, with globalization. I think the time period that changed Indian clothing the most is now, with access to social media. 

Methodology

To learn all this I had to interview:

• Anushka Bhatnagar, a professor at Venkteshwar Institute of Fashion.

• Rakesh Mehata, a lady I met who was shopping for clothes.

• Ayushi, who is the owner of Roop Shree, a clothing store in Udaipur.

•  Naddeem, our walking tour guide in Agra.

I read nine books and websites, including Arti Saudhu’s Indian Fashion, and asked a lot of people in public to take pictures with them because their outfits supported my question.

Section 1 - The Mughal Period 

Before the Mughals came to power in India in 1526, the Indian woman usually only wore a cloth around the lower part of the body and left the upper part bare. They did not need to cover the upper part because it was impractical for the hot Indian climate (Aims). When I went to the Chand Baori step well, which came before the mughals, I saw carvings in which there were women wearing this type of clothing. For the elites in the 15th century, you could wear a very simple lehenga. I saw ladies wearing lehengas in miniature paintings at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur.

When the Mughals came, they tried to persuade people to dress more conservatively. According to the Holy Qur'an, “tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest…And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent….”(Holy Qur'an: Chapter 24, Verses 30-31). This quote is important because it tells us partly why the Muslims dress more conservatively. 

The Mughal woman wore loose pants, with a tight fitting bodice, otherwise known as a salwar kameez (Gadgil). It came from central Asia, where the Mughals were from. Emma Tarlo, an anthropologist at the university of London, said that “The shalwar kamiz, though introduced to India by Muslims, has been worn for centuries by both Hindus and Muslims in parts of northern India (Tarlo 133).” Rakesh Mehata, the lady I met who was shopping, said that the Mughal period is the most important time period that changed Indian clothing because it introduced the salwar khameez, the most commonly worn non-western clothing in India. You notice, when you are walking around, that about one third of the women are wearing salwar kameezes on a daily basis. Our guide in Agra, Naddeem, said that Muslim salwar khameez’s were longer than Hindus, who now also wear salwar khameez in a subtly different style. The Mughal period was very important because it brought the salwar kameez to India.

Section 2 - The British Era

The British changed Indian clothing a lot. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company took over most of India. They were there to make money with raw materials, such as cotton, indigo, and spices. They took the cotton grown in India, brought it to Britain, made it into clothes, then sailed it back to India to sell it for a higher price. In 1857, the Indian soldiers working for the British company revolted because the bullet cartridges that they had to bite into were made of pork and beef fat, which was against their religions to eat. This led to the British government controlling India more directly with the “British Raj.” The British Raj was a British viceroy ruling over all of India, and it ended in 1947 when India gained its independence.

The British brought with them clothing standards. They made the blouse worn with the saree. They introduced lace, frills, leg-o-mutton sleeves, high collars, gloves, brooches, parasols, and many more western bits and pieces (Saudhu). I read a book by Arti Sandhu, a professor of fashion at the University of Cincinnati, about how Indian clothing changed over time. It said that the British did not force people to wear western clothes, unlike the Mughals. However, the elite Indians did wear western clothing, because of their exposure to western ideas overseas. The British made it hard for people to make their own textiles because Indians had to buy British textiles and then make them into sarees. Also, the factories started to make artificial colors that then made Indian clothing even more colorful than the traditional home-made dyes (Saudhu). Anushka Bhatnagar, a professor at Venkteshwar Institute of Fashion, told me that the British era changed the clothes, but the Indians still used the traditional patterns, to not forget their culture. The thing that you notice now with women walking on the street, they wear blouses with the saree because the British introduced it.

Section 3 - Globalization and Social Media Access

Social media now has a big impact on Indian clothing. Social media changed Indian clothing because now young people are getting influenced by western trends (Singh). Now you can really appreciate your culture, and you can get a lot of instagram likes because you are wearing a fun saree or salwar kameez. I see that people are combining Indian patterns with western clothing, or combining western patterns with Indian clothing.

 Tanishq Singh, a journalist in India, wrote: “Born into a digital-first world, Gen Z curates their style online and offline simultaneously. From aesthetic Instagram feeds to outfit reels and Pinterest boards, fashion is more interactive than ever.” Now, on the streets, you see people wearing salwar khameezes with jeans, and people blending Indian patterns with western clothing. In a video that I watched, Ms. Bhavnoor Kaur, a creative designer, said that “Right now I feel, because of the social media exposure, especially the youth has become very expressive about how they feel, many people have been exploring with Indian textiles.” On the other hand, now that ladies are getting education and jobs, traditional clothing just isn't practical. Rakesh Mehata, a young lady, said that she does not wear the traditional clothes to her job because western clothes are “more comfortable for work.” One of the books that I read, called Fair and Lovely: Standards of Beauty, Globalization, and the Modern Indian Woman, said that the new generation are wearing more revealing clothes, such as spaghetti straps, and only wear traditional clothes if they have to, such as to a wedding. 

On the streets, you usually only see the older ladies wearing sarees on a daily basis because they grew up wearing them, instead of the younger generations. You rarely see lehengas on the street because now they are usually only wearing them for special occasions like weddings and photo shoots. Globalization and social media impacts Indian clothing now because young women are mostly wearing western clothes like jeans, t-shirts, and dresses.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the key changes in Indian fashion was the Mughal period, the British era, and now, with social media access. I believe that the biggest change is now, with globalization. I made drawings of clothing from those time periods, to show how clothing changed over time in India.

Bibliography 

“A Garment of History: The Blouse and Its Evolution in India – AIMS Exhibition.” Aims, 17 Nov. 2020, aims.vmis.in/exhibition/a-garment-of-history-the-blouse-and-its-evolution-in-india/. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.

Anjor Gadgil. “Fashioned by History: How Women’s Clothing Evolved Overtime.” PMN Patralok, 28 Aug. 2025, www.patralok.com/fashioned-by-history-how-womens-clothing-evolved-overtime/. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.

Arti Sandhu. Indian Fashion : Tradition, Innovation, Style. London ; New Delhi ; New York ; Sydney, Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.

Bhatnagar, Anushka . 18 Dec. 2025.

Gelles, Rebecca. Fair and Lovely: Standards of Beauty, Globalization, and the Modern Indian Woman. 2011.

Mehata, Rakesh. 18 Dec. 2025.

Ayushi. 18 Dec. 2025.

Nadeem. 18 Dec. 2025.

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Singh, Tanishq. “Why Gen Z Is Leading a New Fashion Movement in India.” Shade of You, 2 July 2025, www.shadeofyou.com/blogs/news/genz-fashion-trends-india?srsltid=AfmBOoosxtWBbpWk5okgxJ1c05FsIII5S0bNfbp8R_5zhOErBlbnLy7L. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.

“The Evolution of Indian Fashion: From Traditional to Modern.” Hatkay.com, 26 Aug. 2024, www.hatkay.com/blogs/hatkay/the-evolution-of-indian-fashion-from-traditional-to-modern?srsltid=AfmBOoqMT5SeckZxq7I9I1c6x-Icni05GQz-5JwakNrJnytXVtfzFBJr. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.

“The Fascinating History and Evolution of Clothing in Medieval and Modern India – Disha Foundation.” Dishafashioninstitute.com, 2025, dishafashioninstitute.com/history-of-clothing-and-fashion-in-india/. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.

Wikipedia Contributors. “History of Clothing in the Indian Subcontinent.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_clothing_in_the_Indian_subcontinent. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.